You considered some of the ambiguous elements in the short stories you
were assigned and brainstormed the following questions for each story:The Flowers
(handout/online) Do you
think the young child has experienced violence from the past? How do you
think Myop’s personality has changed permanently after she sees the
dead man? From all
the places she was able to pick flowers, why did she pick them from a
dead body?

The Story of an
Hour (p. 15) Has Mrs.
Mallard had thoughts of murdering her husband to get free? Do you
think it is right for Mrs. Mallard to feel liberation so soon after her
husband died? Does the
wife die from shock of seeing that her husband was still alive,
or did she die of disappointment?

The Sorrowful
Woman (p. 38) Do you
think the medicine made her more depressed? Who do you
sympathize with more, the husband or the wife, and why? Did the
husband feel freedom or did he feel as if he didn’t do enough for her?

A & P (p.
553) Do you
think Sammy hated his job in the first place? What were
Sammy’s true motives for quitting? Did the girls play a significant
role? Did Sammy
really quit his job for the girls or was there a deeper meaning?

Eveline (p. 432)] Do you
think she was scared of the unknown? Is the
relationship Eveline shares with her father a healthy one? What was
the real reason that prevented her from getting on the boat?

Araby
(handout/online) Do you
think he blames his uncle for not letting him get to the fair on time? Did the
realization that it wasn’t true love cause the young boy to be bitter? What
inhibited the boy to tell the girl that he was infatuated with her?

Where Are You
Going, Where Have You Been? (online) What was
the moral of this story? What was
the significance of Arnold’s friend in the car? Should the
mother be responsible for what happened to Connie, for not establishing
trust or communication in their relationship?

Lust (p.282) What was
the girl’s motive for sleeping around? Why does
this girl feel the need to have so many meaningless relationships? After
reflecting back on her experiences, does she view sex in a different
light?

Girl (p. 517) What would
make her mother think that the girl rebels against what’s right and
society? How old is
the character that’s being spoken to? When the
daughter gets older will she resent her mother for how she was
pressured to be?

Soldiers Home
(p. 154) Why was
the son’s relationship with his father so distant? What are
the motives behind the soldier leaving home at the end? Will
Harold Krebs ever learn to love again?

How to Tell a
True War Story (p. 473) Why do you
think Lemon’s sister didn’t respond to Rat’s letter and do you think
that helped add to his pain? Is it
possible to tell a true war story? Why or why not? When Rat
shot the buffalo, did this aid in his mourning process?

Miss Brill (p.
252) What makes
Miss Brill think she hears crying at the end? If the
story was continued, what would be next for Miss Brill? Do you
think next Sunday Miss Brill will go back to watching the band play?

Young Man on
Sixth Avenue (online) Why is the
young man so confident? Why does
the author use five paragraphs to talk about now and then three
paragraphs to talk about the rest of his life? Does he
look back on his life and wish he was his 25 year-old self or does he
appreciate what he has now?